Speed recording device



June 8, 1943. w. E. BELCHER 2,321,273

SPEED RECORDING DEVICE Filed Aug. 12, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 8,1943. w. E. BELCHER 2,321,273

SPEED RECORDING DEVICE wful/Mir Patented June 8, 1943 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in speed recordingdevices and relates more specifically to an improved recordinginstrument adapted to be operated in association with the running gearof a vehicle and which will make a graphic and permanent record of allmovement of the vehicle and the speed of such movement and will recordas well the periods during which the vehicle is at rest.

The instrument which is the subject matter of the present invention isadapted particularly for use on automobiles, trucks and the like,although it is by no means limited to such use. An important object ofthe invention is the provision of an improved recording apparatus whichwill accurately and efficiently record the many speeds at which avehicle travels over a given period and will record as well the times ofsuch speed and the periods when the vehicle is standing still.

The particular improvement constituting the present invention resides inthe provision of novel means for imparting rotation to the rewind reelfor removing slack in the tape as the same is positively driven by asprocket wheel or other convenient driving means.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a broken front elevation of the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the internal housing after the same hasbeen removed from the casing, the view showin the recording tape inoperative position;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the housing with the spring driven clockremoved;

Fig. 4 is a broken vertical section taken substantially through thecenter of the device;

Fig. 5 is a broken horizontal section taken on line 5--5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a broken end elevation partially in section of a part of thedevice.

A commercially practical embodiment of the present invention isillustrated in the drawings, such device comprising a casing ID, thefront surface ll of which is provided with a substantially semicircularraised portion l2 having an opening l3 therein through which a speedindicating dial l5 and an indicating hand H5 may be observed.

This opening is covered by means of a closure plate ll having an openingl8 therein, and a piece of transparent material i9 is secured to therear surface of this plate adjacent to the marginal edges of theopening. The closure plate is secured to the front edge of the raisedportion I! by means of a screw 2|.

To the left of the raised portion [2, when viewed from the positionshown in Fig. 1', a small sight opening 24 is formed, through which thedate of the month 25 may be observed on the tape 26. To the right of theraised portion another and similar small sight opening 21 is formed topermit the user to observe the time of day indicated at 28.

The preferred embodiment of this invention includes speed indicatingmeans to permit the driver to determine his speed and to this extent thedevice may entirely replace the conventional speedometer. This portionof the mechanism is housed within the casing l0 and includes a flexibleshaft (not shown) which is positioned within a flexible conduit 39 andwhich shaft rotates in accordance wtih the speed of movement of the car.The shaft terminates in a portion 3| having a small gear 32 keyedthereto, such gear driving a gear 33 rotating at right angles to theshaft 3i, such latter gear being keyed to a shaft 35 journalled in abearing 33 supported by a bracket 31.

A conventional rotor 39 is secured to the opposite end of the shaft 35.An aluminum cup 42 is mounted on a short shaft 43 which is journalled atone end thereof in a bracket 44. The opposite end of the shaft 43 ispositioned within a centrally disposed aperture 46 in the rotor 39.

The speed indicating hand I6 is keyed to this short shaft and an arm 41carrying a stylus or pen 48 for marking on the tape is secured to thealuminum cup 42. A conventional speed record line made on tape 26 by pen48 is indicated at 49. An angular bracket 50 is secured at its lower endto the lower wall of the casing and on its first horizontal portion 5|supports a magnetic coil 52. The upper portion 53 of this bracketengages the rear surface of the closure plate I l and also supports thejournal bracket 44.

The shaft 43 carrying the indicators IS and 41 is urged in the directionof ii on the dial I5 by means of a hair spring positioned within arecess (not shown) in the bracket 44 and as the speed of rotation of therotor 39 increases the cup moves against the spring, thus showing thespeed by the indicating hand.

The removable frame or housing which supports the tape reels and themechanism for actuating the same is shown by the reference numeral 51.This housing is preferably made from sheet metal and includes a frontwall 58 having a rectangular opening 59 therein and side wall membersBI] and BI respectively, the latter wall being removable.

A lower door 64 of the casing I is hinged at 65 and at the front end issecured in closed position by means of a locking member 65 which mayinclude a lock actuated by a key if desired. A recess 58 of suitablesize is formed in the casing I0 to receive the housing 51 and at theforward end a recess 69 is formed to assure the front wall of thehousing being properly positioned when it is inserted within the recess68. The housing is further urged in the direction of this recess bymeans of a plurality of fiat springs 'II secured to the interior surfaceof the rear wall I2 of the casing by means of screws I3. Also, in orderto insure contact with the upper wall of the casing I0 the housing isurged upwardly by means of a flat spring I5 secured to the upper surfaceof the hinged door 84 by means of screws I6.

The tape 28 extends substantially the full width of the housing 51 andis provided with pre-punched sprocket holes I8 adjacent to each marginaledge thereof and with a plurality of spaced markings I9, eachconstituting an arc of the circle described by the pen or stylus 48.These curved markings are so arranged as to be spaced apart at thecenter thereof the distance the tape travels in fifteen minutes, andeach marking is provided with transverse extensions 80 leading on oneterminal to the date marking 25 and on the other terminal to the hourdesignation 28. There is thus formed a relatively large area over whichthe pen 48 may traverse during each fifteen minute period.

The starting roll 82 is wound on a reel 83 having end discs 84 and ashaft 85 passes through the center of this reel, such shaft beingjournalled in the side walls 60 and GI. A collar 81 at one end of theshaft retains the shaft 85 in its bearing in the wall 60 and when thereels are to be changed, the wall 6|, which is a removable plate, iswithdrawn from the housing.

The tape 28 from the roll 82 first passes over an elongated drum orpulley 89 mounted on a shaft 90 and passes over the front surface of avertical supporting plate 92 having flange portions 93 and 94 atopposite ends thereof, the portion 93 being secured to the wall 60 bymeans of screws 95 and the fiange portion 94 having a projection 96which fits into a recess 91 in the wall BI. The upper and lower edges ofthe plate 92 are formed with diagonally disposed flanges 98 which areengaged by the tape as it enters upon and leaves the plate. The frontsurface of the plate 92 is desirably on the same plane as the frontsurface ofthe front wall 58, as shown in Fig. 4. In order to prevent thetape from unreeling too rapidly, a brake comprising a flat spring I02,mounted on a pin I03, engages the outer periphery of such roll.

Leaving the plate 92 the tape passes over an elongated pulley or drumI04, having driving sprockets I05 engaging the sprocket holes 18, suchpulley being mounted on a shaft I06. This shaft projects through thewall 60 and is provided with a gear I09 on the exterior of the housing.This gear is driven by an idler IIO on a shaft III, which in turn isdriven by a gear II2 on a drive shaft H3. The shaft H3 is driven by asuitable spring driven block mechanism (not shown) which is positionedwithin a casing Il5 securedto the housing 51 by means of angle bracketsI I5. Thespring motor is wound by means of a crank I I1" and the speedof the spring motoris such as to move the tape, by means of the drivingsprockets, the distance between two arcuate lines I9 every fifteenminutes.

The tape 26, after leaving the pulley I04, passes over a final idlerpulley I mounted on a shaft I2I and is thence wound on a rewind reelI24. This reel has a larger diameter than the reel 83 in order toaccommodate in the center thereof a coil spring I which is mounted on ashaft I26. A collar I22 is mounted adjacent to one end of shaft I26 andis free to rotate thereon, although longitudinal movement of the collarrelative to the shaft is prevented by means of a set screw I23 whichpasses into an annular recess (not shown) in the shaft I28. One end ofthe spring I25 passes through a small aperture I2'I in this collar andis secured therein. The other end of spring I25 is secured to the shaftat I28. When the reel I24 is in the position shown in Fig. 5 the collarI22 is keyed thereto by means of an internal spline I29 which engages arecess I29 in the collar. It will be apparent that the actual driving ofthe tape is performed by the sprockets I05 and the only function of thespring I25 is to take up the slack tape. The spring I25 is wound in thefollowing manner. A gear I30 is free to move longitudinally of the shaftI26, but rotative movement of the gear relative to the shaft isprevented by means of a key I3I This gear is formed with teeth I32 onits external surface which are normally free from engagement with teethI 33 on a similar gear I34 mounted on a shaft I35 leading from thespring motor housing H5. The gear is formed with a collar I 38 which,when the housing is in the casing, resides in a vertical recess I39 inthe end wall I40 of the casing. A spring I4I carried on the shaft I25urges the gear outwardly but when the collar I30 is in the recess I39,the gear is moved inwardly against the compression of the. spring, asshown in Fig. 5. In this position the inner surface of the gear engagesone arm I42 of a bell crank lever which is urged in a clockwisedirection by means of a spring I43, the lever being pivotally mounted atI44.

The opposite arm I45 of the lever passes through a slot I49 in thehousing wall 80. When the gear is held inwardly against the compressionof the spring MI by engagement with the end wall of the recess I 39, itis held against rotative movement by means of a pin I48 which passesthrough one of a plurality of spacedapertures I49 in the gear. When,however, the housing is removed from the casing, the gear I30 movesoutwardly to a point where the teeth of the gear engage the teeth I33011 the gear I 34. This outward movement also permits the bell cranklever to move with the spring, and the arm I45 engages one of the teethI52 around the periphery of'the disc I53 carried at one end of the reelI24, thus preventing rotative movement of the latter. 1

The spring mechanism may now be wound by turning the crank Ill and asthis is done the shaft I35 also causes gears I34 and I39 to revolve,thus winding the sprin I25 a sufficient amount to give it enough energyto take up the slack in the tape between the drum I04 and the reel I24.

In starting the device into operation, the reel 83 and the reel I24 arewithdrawn from the housing and the former reel is provided with a fullwinding of tape having the indicia previcusly described printed thereonfor any given period. The reels are then moved into place and movementof the reel I24 causes the spline I29 to enter recess I29 in the collarI22. Thus the collar becomes keyed to the reel I24 and the tape may thenbe passed over the elongated pulley 89, over the plate 92, around thesprocket wheels I04, over the pulley I20 and is then secured to thewinding reel I24. It is preferred to wind the clock at this point,inasmuch as when the reel I24 has been withdrawn to remove the previouswinding of tape therefrom, the spring I25 becomes completely unwound. Aspreviously stated, the winding of the clock also stores energy in thespring I25 and the reel I24 is now ready to take up the slack in thetape after the same leaves the sprocket wheels. The clock is thenstarted in operation and the housing placed within the casing.

The device is now ready for use, and it will be apparent that while thecar is standing still the marker 48 remains at 0. As the car begins tomove, the marker moves in accordance with the speed of movement, thusrecording the speed upon the tape. The following means are provided foradjusting the position of the tape in the event that the tape is runningeither too fast or too slow. The right hand end of the shaft I06, asviewed from the position shown in Fig. 2, is provided with a thumb turngear I60 (shown in broken lines), and the gear I09 at the opposite endof shaft I06, while relatively firmly secured thereto by frictionalmeans, is nevertheless sufficiently loosely mounted so that when theshaft I06 is manually rotated by the thumb turn gear I60, the gear I09remains stationary and the shaft I05, carrying the sprocket wheeels I05,revolves. In the event that the tape must be moved forward, suchrevolution of the shaft I06 causes the tape to so move and the slack isimmediately taken up on the rewind reel I24. In the event that the tapeis ahead, the shaft is turned in the opposite direction and the slack istaken up by manually turning the reel 83. It will be apparent that thisembodiment of the invention is illustrative only, and is capable of manymodifications without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

In a speed-recording device having a movable tape which is fed from asupply roll to a rewind reel by means of a spring motor, the combinationof means for imparting rotation to the rewind reel for removing slack inthe tape, said means comprising a shaft upon which the rewind reel isjournalled, a coil spring carried concentrically of the shaft and beingconnected at one end thereof to said reel and at the'other end to theshaft, a, longitudinally movable gear keyed to the shaft, the gear beingnormally unconnected with said spring motor, means comprising a springfor urging the gear into operative connection with the spring motor towind the coil spring, and means for preventing rotation of the reelwhile the spring connected therewith is being wound.

WILLIAM E. BELCHER.

